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Should I ship a Word Game Incremental game?
Incremental + Word Game
Of 91 developers who shipped a Word Game Incremental game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 77 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 1 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×10 the market's $120 for a 1 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 77 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,197) |
| Top 25% | $4.8k (exactly $4,815) |
| Top 5% | $107k (exactly $106,693) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 91 |
| Released games | 234 |
| Announced | 77 |
| Effort | 1 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $3.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 15% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
- Word Game
- effort 1 / 10 · high · dictionary logic and simple UI
What it takes
- Effort
- 1 / 10 · text and UI only
- Systems
- Incremental, Word Game; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Visual Novel, Simulation
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Text-Based, Emotional
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 9,978 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 55 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 77 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Incremental with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + OtomeStrong odds
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + MiningFair
- + Souls-likeFair
- + Arena ShooterFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + UndergroundFair
- + LootFair
- + SupernaturalFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator | $12.99 | 5,191 92% | 156k | $2.0M (exactly $2,022,933) | Aluba Van+ | |
| | Immortal Family | older | $13.99 | 1,213 54% | 36k | $509k (exactly $509,096) | 一起来修仙工作室 |
| | xiuzhen idle | $5.99 | 2,313 79% | 69k | $416k (exactly $415,646) | 游戏养家工作室 | |
| | Paper Bride 3 Unresolved Love | older | $9.99 | 874 92% | 26k | $262k (exactly $261,938) | HeartBeat Plus |
| | ~Be a maid in the Demon World~ The Secret Café of the Demon Angel Hero. | older | $18.99 | 320 74% | 9.6k | $182k (exactly $182,304) | Kokutou Umeboshi |
| | Paper Bride 5 Two Lifetimes | older | $9.99 | 606 84% | 18k | $182k (exactly $181,618) | HeartBeat Plus |
| | Paper Bride 4 Bound Love | older | $9.99 | 547 77% | 16k | $164k (exactly $163,936) | HeartBeat Plus |
| | Only You | $6.99 | 719 94% | 22k | $151k (exactly $150,774) | 忘雪社 | |
| | Paper Bride 6 Nightmare | $9.99 | 369 81% | 11k | $111k (exactly $110,589) | HeartBeat Plus | |
| | MEMOLOGY: GOYDA | older | $1.99 | 1,847 94% | 55k | $110k (exactly $110,266) | hannibalnotdead, Gamesforfarm |
| | The Eastern Sacrifice | $9.99 | 356 55% | 11k | $107k (exactly $106,693) | 五条虾仁(5 shrimps) | |
| | UncleOffice:uncle Dating Simulator | $15.99 | 92 61% | 2.8k | $44k (exactly $44,132) | GameUncle | |
| | Idle Land of Exile | $4.99 | 239 68% | 7.2k | $36k (exactly $35,778) | 所以然 | |
| | Whisper of Y'Ryando | $7.99 | 89 70% | 2.7k | $21k (exactly $21,333) | IndieCain, YuetXD | |
| | 翎之歌 | $6.99 | 83 89% | 2.5k | $17k (exactly $17,405) | YuKi制作组, 崩溃猛犸 | |
| | MEMOLOGY 2: OLD TIMES | $0.99 | 527 95% | 16k | $16k (exactly $15,652) | hannibalnotdead, Gamesforfarm |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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